By Louis Ibah
Arik Air on Tuesday announced the suspension of all scheduled international flight operations on Lagos-London and Lagos-Johannesburg routes, following its take over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
This comes as it was learnt that AMCON ha also taken over Odengene Air Shuttle Services (OAS) Helicopters in Lagos following a court order.
It was learnt that the management of AMCON had gone ahead to seal the helicopter company’s operational base at Maryland in Lagos, due to its huge indebtedness to some Nigerian banks and other creditors including AMCON. The takeover, AMCON said, is to facilitate for the recovery of the debts.
Meanwhile, the suspension of the Arik Air flights to London and Johannesburg was contained in a statement by its new management, which described the move as “a strategic business decision meant to realign its operations and refocus on satisfying domestic, West Africa and other international passengers.”
Part of the statement read, “This is to bring to the notice of our travelling public our intention to suspend our international flight operations to enable us find permanent solution facing our passengers as it will enable us to carry out a thorough assessment of the situation.
“It will also present Arik Air with excellent opportunity to engage and discuss with creditors who have become restive since the intervention and have also understandably exhausted their patience due to non-payment of accumulated debt and non-performance on services and contracts.